HOLY FEVER
Interview with Neeraj Kane (guitar)
By Scooter
Longtime friends and members of some of the most beloved hardcore punk bands of the 2000’s, rock and roll up-and-comers HOLY FEVER are no strangers to the music world. The band features a bi-coastal lineup, including Suicide File frontman Dave Weinberg (lead vocals), Malbec’s Samantha Barbera (bass and vocals), Give Up The Ghost’s (American Nightmare) Brian Masek (guitar), Neeraj Kane (guitar) of Hope Conspiracy and Suicide File, and The Explosion’s Andrew Black (drums). HOLY FEVER are excited to announce their new EP, available from LifeLine Records on January 3rd, and first shows as a band this coming weekend.
Here’s a recent sit down with guitarist Neeraj Kane. Enjoy, and peep this band, for sure!!!
Quite excited to hear about the formation of this band. First of all, how did so many people from big bands of days past culminate into one room?
Well I think old friendships, desire to create new music, and coincidence all played a huge role. All of us, I think, felt like we needed a new outlet and decided to start writing songs to just see what we could come up with. At first it was just Jarrod (Alexander), my old friend Samantha Barbera, who I was friends with from the Midwest, and myself. We started writing and recording right away. Then Dave expressed interest in doing vocals. He mentioned that our old friend Brian lived in LA and that we should ask him to play guitar, not knowing that the rest of the band was thinking the same thing. Then when Jarrod left, I found out that Andrew had moved to LA, and after knowing him for years and never having had a chance to play together, it just felt like a good fit to ask him to join. After all was said and done, the chemistry was immediate and we started writing and recording as a unit.
Second question that popped to mind was how did so many HC kids end up in one room, and wind up with a sound described as “the sound of a 60′s rock and roll movement, alongside sweeping harmonies and dueting female vocals…”?
In regards to the sound, we didn’t want to just rehash what we had done in the past. I mean HC/punk influences are always going to come through and are going to be a big part of the sound and us playing live because each and every one of us grew up listening to hardcore/punk. That is just there and some of those influential bands will always be ingrained in our memories, influencing us to some extent, musically, and perhaps lyrically. But for us, Holy Fever is a chance to experiment with any and all musical elements we like, regardless of whether or not they are traditionally thought of as “punk.” Having this kind of approach made room for things like dueling vocals with Samantha and Dave and other elements that keep it interesting and fresh for us.
Aside from Hope Con and Suicide File, had you played with any of these people before? Were any of these people involved in the BARS project?
I had never played with anyone except Dave (and Jarrod when he was playing). Andrew and I knew each other for many years but had never played in a band together, and the same went for Samantha. Brian and I had toured together a bunch when our bands were on the same tours, and filled in for one another as well, but never played together in an actual new project.
You guys hail from both coasts. How did that impact the songwriting, and rehearsals?
The only person who lives on the East Coast is Dave. The rest of the band is in LA. So for writing, practicing, and recording, all that happens on the West Coast. We send roughs to Dave and then we usually schedule a separate session to do vocals, and that is when we will practice as a full band and record vocals. So far so good, and usually it has been once a month where we will be recording new songs with Dave in the studio.
Where did you guys end up recording the debut EP (which coast, and with who), and how did you guys end up working with Lifeline Records on this?
We recorded most of the tracks for the EP at Buzzbomb Studios with Paul Miner on the West Coast. He is good friend who we’ve worked with in the past his studio provides us with a real comfortable vibe for us to be creative and actually take skeletons of ideas and make them into full songs. I have known Joe for years through the Chicago scene and he did a live EP for The Suicide File, and has helped that band throughout the years. He expressed interest early on, so we decided great! Let’s do it.
This band has very political overtones to it. Is that something that the band set out to achieve, or was that just what Dave (vocals) brought to the table for these?
We never really set out to say hey we are a political band, and not all of our songs are necessarily political in nature. We never really decided what the lyrics would be about or what style of music we were going to play. We just wrote the songs and Dave wrote the lyrics… whatever came out came out, some political and some not. However, with the US political climate the way it is, I don’t think we can really stay quiet about it, and as a band we think it is great that we are able to address some of these issues in our music.
You have your first show coming up relatively soon, at Gilman St. in Berkeley, and another one in Long Beach the next day. Are these your actual “first” shows? Are you guys more excited, or nervous to set this ship to sea?
Yes, these are our actual first shows. We are really excited to be playing out as a new band. I would say definitely more excited than nervous. Playing out with a new band is always something to look forward to. We are just grateful for the opportunity to start playing out, especially at Gilman St.!
I know the band is only three songs in, but what do you foresee the band doing in 2012, and over the next few years?
Well, for us this is a labor of love. We are working on new songs all the time and working on a full length, and are planning to play all over! We just feel fortunate to play music and play shows with good friends.
Any parting sentiments?
Check us out if you get a chance, and hopefully we will be playing your town in 2012! Take care and thanks for the opportunity!
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